Tales of the Sky Princess
by Lord of the Jawa
Summary: The man who has come to be known as the Voidhound recounts the story of his earliest days of piracy, aboard the Sky Princess, the flagship of Andronikos Revel. The smuggler looks back at the adventures, raids, and eventual mutiny of the crew which he faithfully served. His stories date back before both the Smuggler and Sith Inquisitor storylines.
1. One Pathetic Stand

**Chapter 1**

People call me the Voidhound. I've also been called Ace. I'm known as one of the most dangerous crime bosses in the galaxy. I may not be a Sith Lord, but I have an empire of my own that strikes fear in the hearts of millions. I have operations from Coruscant to Hoth, taking what should be mine from the Republic and the Empire alike. Lightsabers of all the colors of the rainbow want to cut through my throat and pikes galore would love to bring my severed head to their ruler bearing their flag. The long list of legends told about me include that I am a freak science experiment given the tenacity of a Zabrak, the wisdom of a Chiss, the strength of a Wookiee, the hearing of a Bith, and the greed of a Hutt. I think this legend is my favorite, but it is far from the truth. I wasn't born this way. My story had a beginning and did not involve crime at all. In fact, I was just a simple law-abiding business owner. That is until I met Andronikos Revel.

My actual name is Fen-dur Stratoblaster. Pretty cool, huh? Only my close associates get to know that. My alias gives me a persona, a persona that I did not choose, but was given to me. It's better that way. After my former employer was killed by the Empire on Telos (don't worry, he was an honest bounty hunter, government contracts only) and the people I considered family went their separate ways, I found myself doing similar work being a mechanic for a swoop bike racer on Tatooine. I worked hard to make ends meet, but I was able to work my way up to owning my own business where all the best racers would take their bikes to get tuned-up or fixed.

I decided one night to head to the cantina. I thought a couple rounds of Sabacc and a pint would help calm the stress of the Anchorhead Open that coming weekend. Tatooine lacks luxury, but this cantina was as close as you can find on this rock. I took my usual seat at a table in the corner. In my humble beginnings, I was probably known as the dusty Twi'lek hermit, but that's only speculation. It adds to my rags to riches story. Maybe had I ever talked to anyone at the cantina I would have been pleasantly surprised. And for the first time in three years drinking here at this cantina, something compelled me to change that that night.

Over at the counter, I spotted a gorgeous girl sitting over at the counter talking to the bartender. She was human, with long dark hair and a perfect figure. At this point in time, I wasn't the suave ladies' man I am now. I spent a lot of lonely nights, Twi'lek dancers weren't really my thing and I was very shy. But she was beautiful enough to maybe get to know a little better. I found humans more attractive than those of my own species anyway. My nerves got the best of me, however, and I just sat and drank alone.

I kept my eye on her though. She was candy for eyes that only taste sand. Sand and scrap metal. I was perfectly content with merely watching, but what happened next changed my life forever. Two large men, hunters by the looks of them, also noticed the young dame. A rugged human and a ghastly Devaronian sat on opposite sides of her and began to caress her back and offer to buy her a drink. I watched as she swung away the hand of the human and spit in the face of the Devaronian. Slamming his fists on the counter, the Devaronian stood up and began to yell obscenities even now I wouldn't want to hear. The human stood up too, and violently grabbed her by the arm.

I could bear to watch no longer. Standing in a shaky rage, I yelled, "Stop it!"

Stop it? That was the best I could come up with? Surely I would have to work on my dramatic rescues later. Even more evidently because the two thugs didn't even acknowledge I said anything, continuing to grab and prod this poor damsel.

I stood in a stupor. I could just sit down and pretend I had never said anything, but it would be so embarrassing had someone from across the cantina had seen me stand up and then watched me timidly sit back down. I had to approach these brutes. I strutted across the room, broadening my shoulders and letting my arms swing with my stride.

I tapped the large human on the shoulder and as he turned his head to look at me, I decked him right in the nose. He stumbled back holding his face, when all of a sudden he began to sob. Tears began flowing from his face as his Devaronian buddy began to console him. They left the cantina embracing each other, rubbing each other's back for comfort.

And that was a total lie. Did you actually believe that? I had you fooled, admit it! Here's what really happened:

After I strutted over to the scoundrels, I tapped the large human on the shoulder. That part was true. The rest made me sound like a complete nerf-herder.

"Hey, leave her alone, alright?" I mumbled softly.

"Yeah, and what if I don't?" growled the mangy thug.

"What're you gonna do about it, little man?" scoffed the Devaronian.

Could this conversation get anymore cheesy? I say this not only because it's true, but also because I'm trying to delay telling what happened next.

"I'm going to hurt you, really bad," I squeaked. I'm sure you are skeptical now that I am currently the most feared criminal in the galaxy. Shamefully, however, that's what I actually said.

"Why don't you prove it?" the human sneered, half grinning and exposing his nasty, rotting teeth. He shoved me in the chest, knocking me backwards. I'm not sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate that I caught myself on a chair to keep myself from falling to the ground. I would end up losing any pride I had shortly.

I lunged at him, propelling myself by pushing off from the chair. The human dodged out of the way and as I fell forward toward the counter, the Devaronian grabbed hold of me and bound my arms around my back. As I was being held back, the human began to beat me senseless. A jab to the cheek, a left hook to the temple, an uppercut to the jaw. I was nearly unconscious when the Devaronian let me fall to the floor. They turned me over and through my blurry vision, I could make out the human scowling, pointing a blaster pistol straight at my forehead. I closed my eyes. The story could have ended right here. Well, this story would never have been told had fate not intervened. I heard a blaster shot which I thought would be the last noise I'd ever hear. But it wasn't. When I realized I was still alive, I opened my eyes to see just the ceiling. I managed to turn my head to the side to find the human's cold, dead eyes staring back at me. What just happened?

I heard a low, scratchy growl that sounded even more low and scratchy than the dead man's lying next to me. "You have to the count of three."

I heard the patter of running footsteps that I assumed was the Devaronian's.

I was soon lifted up to my feet and carried over to a bar stool. I expected local law enforcement to have helped take care of these petty trouble-makers, but I was disappointed that I found myself being supported by just another thug. On the bright side, I was also being taken care of by the beautiful damsel in distress. Or was I the damsel in distress now?

"You alright, kid?" asked the man in the low, scratchy voice.

"I think I'll be alright," I mumbled as my brain went in and out of focus.

"Good. I respect a man that can shake it off after getting a beating," he responded. "You got spirit, kid. Taking on two guys you didn't have a prayer to beat to defend a girl. You're either brave or were thinking with the wrong head."

"That's the only one I have that's functioning at the moment," I wheezed. Give me some credit for that witty remark half-unconscious.

"What do you call yourself, kid?" he asked, waving for the bartender to get him a drink.

"Fen-dur. Fen-dur Stratoblaster," I said extending my hand for him to shake. He lightly took my hand and gave a small shake.

"Andronikos Revel. Thanks for sticking up for my friend. I don't express gratitude very often, so consider yourself privileged," he said looking over at me as he hunched over his drink.

"The name's Casey Rix. Let me buy you a few rounds to return the favor," said the damsel no longer in distress. I couldn't believe it. I got beat to a pulp and if it weren't for Andronikos, I would have failed trying to defend her and now she is buying me a drink?

"I don't deserve it, but I can't refuse free drinks," I said with a smirk.

"You're about as good as a blind three=legged womp-rat when it comes to fighting. You were able to stall long enough for me to intervene. The point is you succeeded. What matters are results and even though it was ugly, you got 'em. Consider it mission accomplished," explained Andronikos. I shrugged it off at the time, but those words ended up proving true and useful from this time forward.


	2. Drunken Decisions

**Chapter 2**

We drank the night away, laughing and joking. For their tough appearances, the two of them had a sense of humor. They never really told me what it was they did. All I knew was that Andronikos was the captain of some ship and Casey accompanied him along with an entire crew. I figured whatever it was they did, it wasn't legal.

It was starting to get late and I had swoop bikes to work on the next day, so I told them I needed to get home.

"Hey, don't go home alone. It's full o' scum out there. You can't even fight sober, I can't imagine what you'd look like fightin' drunk," Andronikos chuckled. "Hop in my speeder, I'll give you a lift back."

"You're drunker than even me! You shouldn't be drivin' a speeder in your condition," I slobbered back.

Casey stood up and put her arm around my shoulders, leaning on me for support. "He'll be alright. Ya shoulda seen him when we got surprise attacked by Imperials out in deep space. I still wonder how we made it out alive with how hammered he was."

"I'm even better when I'm drunk," said Andronikos, the clearest he'd spoken since I met him.

The rest is a bit of a blur. They convinced me to climb in the back of their speeder, and I gave them directions to get back to my humble abode. I quickly fell into a deep sleep as they zoomed through the city of Anchorhead. It seemed as though I had just closed my eyes when all of a sudden I was being shaken awake.

"We're here, sleepy-head!" Casey lightly slapped my face with a smile.

I clambered out and began to make my way toward the front door. I was so out of it that I didn't notice something that would have tipped me off of what I would find once I'd open my front door. Well, I wouldn't have made even made it to my front door if it weren't for my two new friends. As I stumbled toward the door, I fell over and did not have the willpower or coordination to lift myself up. Andronikos and Casey climbed out of the speeder and draped my arms over their shoulders. We stumbled together to get inside my shelter. Upon opening the door, I couldn't believe my drunken eyes. My house was completely empty. All of my furniture, all of my tools, and just all of my possessions were gone. We looked upon a barren homestead, as if no one had lived there at all.

"Are you sure this is your house?" Casey inquired.

"I'm sure," I muttered, trying to comprehend what I was looking at.

"Good. That means I came to the right place." I heard theat voice before. The Devaronian spoke from behind us outside the front door. "No kills my friend and humiliates me without a price."

"Give the man his things back and I won't blast you between the eyes." Andronikos pulled a blaster out of its holster, but the Devaronian pulled out a flash grenade and set it off as Andronikos raised it up. I wallowed in pain as the immense amount of light entered my dilated pupils. It wasn't long before we heard the sound of a speeder start up and drive away.

"Damn! The bastard stole my speeder!" growled Andronikos.

I started to regain my vision. Trying to comprehend what had happened, I began to wonder how he even knew I lived here. I began to pat myself when I realized he had pickpocketed the datapad that stored my ID.

I looked up and saw Andronikos run out the front door firing his blaster at what was now a vast void where his speeder used to be. When it seemed he realized there was no use, he marched back inside with his head held high. "Looks like we have some business to take care of."

"What do I do now?" I stammered. He took everything, even things that weren't mine. My house was full of my clients' equipment. Not only would I have to repurchase my own things, but I was going to have a lot of angry bikers to answer to.

"You take back what's yours."

"How? I can't track him down. Even if I could, I can't fight or shoot a blaster! I don't have anyone to help me!"

"Yes you do," said Casey, putting her arm around my shoulder, "You have us."

"Why don't you join our crew? We could use a mechanic like you," Andronikos offered, folding his arms across his chest and looking me over.

"What do you guys do, anyway?" I asked, semi-interested.

"You could say that we look for alternative ways to get rich…" Casey began to explain, but I cut her off before she could elaborate. I had already heard enough.

"You're pirates, aren't you? Just a bunch of petty criminals! You're no better than he is!"

"Morally, perhaps not. But we are definitely better at being criminals than he is," Casey chimed.

"I can't stain my good record."

"Look, that son of a Hutt has your ID. He can now alter it and pose as you as he runs from the law. Your record is going to be stained whether you like it or not." Andronikos told me how it is. "You have nothing here. It's going to take years restoring your good name. Plus, you have better chances of sticking with us than you do facing all your angry clients by yourself."

He had a point. There wasn't much I could do. I took a deep breath and made the craziest decision I had ever made in my life. From this decision stems all the other crazy decisions I would soon make. "I'm in."

"Good. Now let's go hunt us some scum."

"Welcome to the team!" Casey said smiling.

"Let's make our way back to the ship."

What was I doing? Was I really going to give up my simple life on this remote planet for a life of crime just because all of my material things had been stolen? Yes. Yes I was.


	3. Meeting the Crew

**Chapter 3**

The first sun was beginning to rise over the Tatooine horizon. We ran by foot from my house to the docking bays. By the time we reached the entryway, I was ready to vomit. Exhausted, drunk, and sweaty I looked upon the ship that would now be my new home.

"There she is, my pride and joy, the_ Sky Princess_," Andronikos stated smugly.

I looked in awe at her majesty. It was just a light cargo freighter, but it was in the best shape I had ever seen. While most modified smuggler's ships look amateur, the work done to the _Sky Princess_ was of expert craft. I felt very comfortable boarding that ship.

"Wow, I'm impressed." A beauty like that couldn't go uncomplimented.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

The three of us entered the ship. The inside was just as clean as the outside. This man took a lot of pride in his ship. The ship was quite spacious and I wondered how much more space there was that I wasn't seeing.

I followed Andronikos through a corridor when he abruptly stopped and opened a door.

"Wilkes! Get up! Prepare the crew for a man-hunt!" Andronikos barked.

I peered inside to see a young looking human man with shaggy brown hair sitting up with a scowl on his face, sharing a bed with a green Twi'lek woman, covering her body with the sheets.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you're going to have to leave," Wilkes grumbled, rubbing his face and pointing toward the door.

Andronikos made his way to the cockpit, studying the galaxy map. I stuck to his side, not knowing what it was I needed to be doing. Casey was already there, gazing out the large window.

"Casey, you remember his face, right? Check Republic and Imperial files and see if this low-life has a bounty on his head and how much it's for," growled Andronikos. He sat back in his chair, stoking his chin in deep thought. Casey took a seat next to a holocomputer and began her search.

Wilkes entered the cockpit fully dressed among four other human men.

"The crew is ready for your command, Captain. But who the hell is this guy?" said Wilkes bluntly, gesturing in my direction as if I were milk that was left out of the refrigerator.

"This is Fen-dur Stratoblaster. He's a new member of our crew. Get use to him. If you have any complaints, we're still at port. You have plenty of time to grab your things and leave," Andronikos replied. I wasn't sure why Andronikos wanted to help me so bad and why he even wanted me join the crew. He practically _made_ me join. I just found it curious.

"Whatever you say," said Wilkes with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Fen-dur, this is Sylas Wilkes, my first mate," said Andronikos. "Behind him is Webb, our scout."

Webb looked like a former Republic soldier with his confident stance and crew cut. He gave a nod as Andronikos introduced him.

"Next we have Gadget, he's a mercenary if I've ever seen one. He's a Mandalorian cyborg and there's no one I'd rather have on my side in a blaster fight."

Gadget was a bald man with tan skin about the same as Andronikos, only Gadget was twice his size. He had a glowing green mechanical eye and an obvious large mechanical arm that was easily seen because of his sleeveless green jacket. He wore no shirt underneath the jacket, exposing his extremely muscular torso. One thing I knew for sure, I was going to stay on his good side.

"That little guy down there is Ghost. He's the stealth expert. There's not a base in this galaxy that Ghost can't enter undetected. He doesn't talk much, but his skills are invaluable when we're far too outgunned."

Pale and slender, Ghost leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, his long black hair hanging over his eyes as he gave a stern, unmoving gaze.

"Last but not least is Lester. He's the medic. He's the reason most of us are still alive."

Lester had a large nose on a face that looked like he had an opinion about everything. He also had black hair that he combed to the side which contrasted the long white lab coat he sported.

"Good to meet you all. I look forward to working with you. Like he said, I'm Fen-dur. I'm glad I get to be a part of this wonderful crew," I said as politely as I could. To be honest, I wasn't sure how I was supposed to act around these guys.

"Well, he's gonna fit right in, ain't he?" scoffed Lester with high pitched little chuckle.

"What purpose do you serve? You just one more mouth to feed or what?" Sylas jeered.

"Well… I… uh…"

"Shut it, Wilkes. We've been needing a mechanic. I don't have time to maintain the ship all the time and we need a guy who can make sure the ship is running smoothly full time. Plus, this guy has a score to settle with the same guy who just took my speeder. It seemed logical that we team up. Hunting this guy down is our next mission. Casey is on the job identifying the next scumbag we're going to take care of," Andronikos explained.

"I found him! Take a look!" Casey exclaimed. The crew gathered around the holocomputer to see the face of their next target.

"The name is Tyresius Lokai. He's wanted by both the Republic and the Empire alike. By the looks of it, he's in the same business we are, simply stealing things for pleasure, only he is mostly a solo act. Says here he is most often seen on Tatooine, Nar Shaddaa, and Corellia. But if he's left Tatooine, he could be anywhere," informed Casey.

"Where has he been recently? Any habitual clients or victims?" Andronikos sat up in his chair.

"He never double dips. However he does have a ship called the Scarlet Dart in his name. I'm looking at docking records and it looks like he's docked at the same hangar bay on Nar Shaddaa eight times within the last month."

"Alright crew, prepare your equipment. I'm setting a course for Nar Shaddaa. Even if that's not where he's headed, it will be. If we beat him there, all the better. When he checks into his favorite hangar bay, we will be waiting for him. He won't know what hit him."

The crew dispersed leaving me alone with Andronikos and Sylas.

"I'm going to get us ready to take off. Why don't you show our new crew member to his quarters while I do that?" said Andronikos to Sylas.

The two of them had a brief stare down and with a sigh, Sylas said, "Follow me."

We left the cockpit area and crossed through the main room and into a corridor.

"Alright, tell me about yourself, kid. You ever kill a man? You ever been involved with the Hutts? How long have you been on the run from the Republic?" I thought it was considerate of him to assume I was on the run. But curse my honesty.

"Actually, I've never done any of those things. Just two hours ago I was a law-abiding small business owner who had never done anything to raise the attention to the government. My only involvement with the Hutts was my mutual partnership with swoop bikers. I didn't really have a direct relationship with them. They sponsored the racers and the racers came to me with their bikes and that was the extent of it." Come to think of it, at this point in time I still was a law-abiding citizen. I may have joined a group of criminals, but I hadn't done a thing against the law yet.

"You're kidding," Sylas laughed. "You don't have to hide here, we're all criminals. Seriously, what are you wanted for?"

"I'm not joking," I replied. I walked beside him embarrassed that I've never killed a man. It seemed so backwards to me.

"I don't believe it. Do you know how to fire a blaster? Do you know anything about thermal detonators? Are you familiar with any hand-to-hand combat techniques?"

I shook my head. I soon began to feel out of place. I realized I stuck out like a sore thumb on this ship. I had no grasp on criminal culture, the only experiences being the brief shootouts I saw on the lawless sand-trap I was about to leave. On top of that, I was the only alien on this ship. I was this orange-yellow Twi'lek with purple eyes and long headtails among a bunch of hairy humans.

My quarters were at the end of the corridor next to the ventilation ducts. It was a little room with a tiny bed small enough for my headtails to hang off the edge no matter what position I laid in. A footlocker sat in the corner.

"Here's where you'll be staying. There are blankets and sheets in the footlocker. Feel free to store whatever you like in there. I doubt you'll survive long, so just remember whatever you stick in there will be mine shortly. Have a good morning, when you're ready, come on out because Lester is making breakfast for everyone." Sylas walked away with a small smirk.

I plopped down on the bed and scratched my head. I started thinking about the night before and how I should have done things differently. All the things I could have done to have avoided this mess. I didn't want to be there anymore. But it was too late, I was too far invested. Besides, who knows what Andronikos would do if I backed out now. I made up my mind that I was going to give this whole big bad pirate thing everything I got. I was going to show everyone on this crew that I belonged. Respect is earned, not given freely. To this day, I hold that as my number one rule in the galaxy.


End file.
